Bleaching and skin toning creams applied on the body are responsible for most skin disorders, says Eshan Henshaw, a consultant dermatologist at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
Henshaw, who is the chairperson of national association of dermatologist in Cross River, said this when she led members of the association on a courtesy visit to the state commissioner for health, Inyang Asibong, on Monday.
She said there is a changing paradigm in skin disease in Nigeria due mainly to the large scale use of bleaching and skin toning creams.
“Most skin disorders are self inflicted by the use of bleaching and toning creams. Most of those creams could tomorrow be the cause of one’s skin cancer or kidney failure,” said Henshaw.
“The conference, which has the theme. Expanding the Frontiers of Dermatologist in Nigeria”, shall bring in experts in skin disease care from home and abroad.
“These experts shall brainstorm on the skin, particularly the black skin and how best to treat them.
“In view of this, we have come to intimate you (the commissioner) about the conference and to also solicit government’s support toward the success of the conference.”
Responding, Asibong said that the conference theme was apt, adding that Nigeria had been the dumping and trial ground of many skin care products by some foreign countries.
She added that “the rising cases of cancer and kidney failure have become a challenge to medical experts and the Cross River government is particularly concerned about this.
“We are thankful to the skin disease experts for choosing the topic and the ancient city of Calabar for the venue of the conference.”
She advised the conference organisers to expand the frontiers of skin care and to pay attention to mainstreaming the knowledge and management of skin disease.(Source: Today.ng)
Bleaching and skin toning creams applied on the body are responsible for most skin disorders, says Eshan Henshaw, a consultant dermatologi...
President Donald Trump will meet with the chief executives of technology companies including Apple and Amazon.com on Monday as the White House looks to the private sector for help in cutting government waste and improving services.
White House officials said on a conference call on Friday that the administration believed there was an “economic opportunity” to save up to $1 trillion over 10 years by significantly cutting government information technology costs, reducing government costs through improved IT, leveraging government buying power and cutting fraud across government agencies.
The meeting with nearly 20 chief executives comes as the White House pushes to shrink government, cut federal employees and eliminate regulations. Many business executives are eager to work with the new administration as they face numerous regulatory and other policy issues.
In May, Trump created an “American Technology Council,” the latest in a series of efforts to modernize the U.S. government. He signed a separate order in March to overhaul the federal government and tapped son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner to lead a White House Office of American Innovation to leverage business ideas and potentially privatize some government functions.
Others planning to attend include Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr and the chief executives of Microsoft, IBM, Mastercard, Intel, Qualcomm, Oracle and Adobe Systems, a White House official said on Sunday.
In May, Trump asked lawmakers to cut $3.6 trillion in government spending over the next decade, taking aim at healthcare and food assistance programs for the poor in a budget that also boosted spending on defense.
A 2016 U.S. Government Accountability Office report estimated the U.S. government spent more than $80 billion in IT annually, excluding classified operations. In 2015, there were at least 7,000 separate IT investments by the U.S. government and some agencies were using systems that had components at least 50 years old.
Chris Liddell, a White House official who directs the American Technology Council and is a former Microsoft and General Motors chief financial officer, said on Friday the Trump administration aimed to improve government services to at least the level of the private sector.
Visa program
The tech CEOs and White House also plan to discuss Trump’s review announced in April of the U.S. visa program for bringing high-skilled foreign workers into the country.
More than a dozen Trump administration officials including Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Kushner and Liddell will hold group sessions with the chief executives before they jointly meet with Trump.
The council also seeks to boost the cyber security of U.S. government IT systems and wants to learn from private-sector practices. In 2015, hackers exposed the personal information of 22 million people from U.S. government databases.
In a document outlining the working-group sessions, the White House said the federal government should require “making it easy for agencies to use the cloud.”
The White House thinks it can take lessons from credit card companies in significantly reducing fraud. A 2016 government audit found that in Medicaid alone, there was $29 billion in fraud in a single year.
Following Trump’s June 1 decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accords, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger stepped down from White House advisory panels. White House officials said the dispute had little impact and that they had to turn away tech leaders from Monday’s event because of lack of space.
President Donald Trump will meet with the chief executives of technology companies including Apple and Amazon.com on Monday as the White H...
There are almost as many different types of headaches as there are medications and triggers. But despite big pharma, few people find relief from the pain and symptoms of headaches and migraines in a pill.
That’s because the surest way to conquer severe headache and migraine pain is by preventing it in the first place. Even when it comes to certain medications, instructions for taking them stress that you must take the medicine at the onset. Once migraine pain grips you, it doesn’t want to let go. I’ve learned that the only way to really escape it is to go several steps beyond the triggers, directly to the causes to keep headache pain from diminishing your life.
The baseline of health
Homeostasis is the body’s baseline of health and well-being. It is the state where you feel good and centered. It is a state of being wherein you are neither too stressed, too tired nor too excited. You are in a state where your digestion is working properly, your body is absorbing proper amounts of nutrients and oxygen and you are efficiently expelling toxins through the skin, lungs, urine and intestines. Your sleep and wake cycle is set, you work and exercise, you have a balanced home-work-social life. Things are good.
But life often gets in the way and we don’t feel as good anymore. Poor health, pain and disease are all felt in a body that it is off balance, no longer functioning at homeostasis. Our bodies are now existing in imbalance. Chronic pain conditions, like headaches and migraines, are a result.
Imbalances invite headache
The causes of headaches are quite vast — yet they all have something in common: They are based in a combination of one of three types or categories of imbalance. These imbalance categories are known as Excesses (too much of something), Deficiencies (too little of something) and Stagnation (things moving too slowly). For short, I will refer to this concept simply as EDS (excess/deficiency/stagnation).
The three terms that comprise EDS revolve around the idea that to reduce the pain level, duration and frequency of your headaches, and to live as symptom-free as possible, you need to maintain a balance within and between your body, your mind and your diet.
In other words, you need to make changes to your lifestyle. It is important to avoid too much (i.e., excess) of anything that causes your condition or its symptoms to get worse, or too little (i.e., deficiency) of something to prevent it from getting better. Let’s now take a look at this concept of “three hidden causes” as it is associated with the connection between your body, mind and diet (i.e., your lifestyle) and the headaches and migraine you suffer.
1. Avoid excesses that trigger headache
Too much of a bad thing and too much of a good thing create imbalances in the body that have consequences. This is certainly true when it comes to headaches. Here are some key areas to watch…
While exercise is needed to help reduce the triggers of headaches, too much of rigorous forms like power lifting, long-distance running and high-impact activities can lead to muscle strain and spasm. Jarring movements from running and jumping and the stress and strain from lifting heaving weights, and the lactic acid that results from “too much, too fast” can cause a host of excess imbalances that trigger headaches.
A diet that is in excess of artificial sweeteners, nitrates, night shades, alcohol and caffeine is also detrimental to those prone to chronic headaches or migraine. What we consume in the form of food and beverages are among the most prevalent headache and migraine triggers.
Emotions also play a big role in the headaches experience. First, some push, push, push to get things done, to go the extra mile, to eat while working and then forgo rest and relaxation. This Type-A personality can actually contribute to getting both forms of headaches. The excessive pushing behavior wears down the body and trigger headaches by increasing stress hormones and reducing sleep.
The next part is the preponderance (excess) of low-vibration emotions that comes once you have been diagnosed with headaches. Wallowing in sorrow for too long, chronically feeling that nothing can be done and complaining to everyone are all ways in which an excess of negative emotion can derail progress. Headaches can feel worse than they are and can increase in pain and duration when you embrace a life excessively ripe with negative thoughts, feelings and emotions.
2. Correct deficiencies that lead to headache pain
Deficiencies also play a role in headaches and migraine cause and effect. If you have a diet that lacks the appropriate amount of whole, fresh and organic fruits and vegetables, you are depriving your body of the nutrients necessary for healthy function.
For example, a study has shown that some migraine sufferers are low in vitamin D, riboflavin (otherwise known as B2) and coenzyme Q10. There are more nutrients I’d suggest that you can read about here.
Melatonin, a hormone your body should naturally produce has been found to work better than amitriptyline. You can supplement it or avoid light in the evenings to help your body produce more.
Drinking too little water is also an issue because water keeps the tissue moist, the joints lubricated and the tendons and muscles supple. Dehydration does not allow the body to remove enough of the impurities and toxins that stress it. When these are left to recycle in the body, they can cause pain and inflammation.
As mentioned earlier, too much exercise can cause headaches but too little (deficiency) can also cause headaches because the body needs exercise to invigorate the blood, improve circulation and cardiovascular health and oxygenate the body.
3. Remove stagnations that keep health from flowing
When it comes to headaches there needs to be a “moving along” of the stagnations that trigger them. Generally speaking, these are experienced as tight, inflexible muscles in spasm that compress the spinal vertebra and cause pressure on the nerves (especially the trigeminal nerve).
Muscle spasms cause trigger points, which lock toxins within the muscle tissue, preventing fresh blood and oxygen to move freely in them, causing stiffness, localized pain and referred pain in the head. When the body is in one place too long, like prolonged sitting or lying, it is stagnating in place. This is unhealthy, especially for headaches, which occur less in a body where health flows.
Not embracing a headache-free diet (outlined in my book) is also a form of stagnation. It means you have not made up your mind to eat the right kinds of foods that help prevent headaches while passing on the foods that trigger them. It also means taking the supplementation necessary to help effect positive change. One of the key symptoms of a poor diet is constipation — a stagnation of waste product in the intestines, that triggers migraines through toxic re-assimilation into the blood. Don’t stagnate when it comes to diet and supplementation. Make a change, even if it is a small change each week.
Your mind and emotions can also stagnate and control you through their focus on the negative. Stress and anxiety make it hard to make decisions because you are worried of the outcome or afraid to begin a plan of change. This can be hard at times, but it is vitally necessary.
Restoring balance is the key
It would be a mistake to assume that only one of these three causes is the root of any health condition, especially a condition as complex as chronic headaches and migraines. In fact, it is usually a combination of all three EDSs that make a simple problem become chronic and seemingly complex. The first “cause” of an issue could be singular (i.e., an excess), but when not approached with the wellness model of health (i.e., restoring balance), it becomes multi-faceted.
The way to reduce the frequency, duration, and pain level of your headaches and migraines is to consider them, and your daily thoughts, beliefs and actions (i.e., lifestyle) from this “three hidden causes” perspective. If you can categorize where you are in excess you can then make changes toward decrease and balance. If you are able to list areas of deficiency you can then take steps to improve them. Where you find stagnations you can look for ways to “move them along.”
Begin to consider your headaches and their symptoms as examples of imbalances. Apply these concepts to your life that I’ve outlined for you and see where and when and how these may be the root cause of what is triggering your headaches and migraines. Relief won’t be far behind.
If you feel like you need extra guidance, check out my Headache Relief Action Plan detailed in my book, Headaches Relieved.
Source: Easyhealthoptions
People who suffer chronic headaches are all too familiar with pain. Often chronic and debilitating, it stops you in your tracks. I know — I...
The FG said on Monday it would use a fraction of the looted funds recovered so far to finance part of the 2017 budget. The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, said this at the 2017 budget breakdown in Abuja.
He said the total revenue projected was N5.08 trillion, with 11% (about N559 billion) coming from the recoveries made. “On recoveries, we are being extremely conservative; what is in the budget is what we know about already.
So, if more comes, we will use it. Know that recoveries of looted funds are not the most dependable way to finance the budget because of the legal processes that have to be concluded before it can be spent.
So, the money quoted in the budget is the one we have already recovered and in our pocket to spend as we wish,” he said.
The N7.44 trillion budget, referred to as the ‘budget of recovery’, was signed into law by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on June 12, a month after it was passed by the National Assembly.
The FG said on Monday it would use a fraction of the looted funds recovered so far to finance part of the 2017 budget. The Minister of Budge...
You might feel like you have hairstylists all figured out, but really you haven’t. The salon and hairstyling life is ‘full of mysteries and fun hacks’, and no matter how close you are to your stylist, there are still a couple of ‘secrets’ they might not let you in on. Below are 5 things or ‘secrets’ your hairstylist would prefer you didn’t know.
Trimming Your Ends Often is Unlikely to Make Your Hair Grow Longer
Hair is typically made up of dead skin cells and cutting the ends doesn’t speed up hair growth process, though it helps to get rid of split ends. Hair grows based on your hair growth cycle, not because you trim the ends often. As far as hair growth is concerned, the average rate is ½ inch per month and no amount of trimming or regular salon visit will change that, except maybe seasonal or pregnancy related hormonal changes.
You Can Dye Your Gray Roots Yourself
If gray hair starts to show, you don’t need to run to a hair stylist. Purchasing and making use of a home-kit gives basic gray coverage and adequately matches salon colours. You just have to know what you’re doing because that’s the basic difference between you and a hairstylist – knowledge and practice. However, it is unadvisable for you to dye your hair to other colours on your own. It’s better to hit the salon for that.
If Your Products Work for You, There’s No Need to Change Them to Something New
In an attempt to sell some of their hair products, some hair stylists will advise changing hair products because your hair has “built up some kind of tolerance to it” or your hair is “used to it”. There’s no scientific evidence to support that notion and hair products are not addictive drugs that your hair builds up tolerance to. Unless your hair changes, maybe due to hormonal changes or other reasons, you can keep using the same products that have always been great for your hair.
You Can Cut Off Your Own Split Ends
The key words here, like was mentioned earlier, are knowledge and practice. As long as you know what you are doing and you don’t currently have an ‘insanely high-maintenance’ style in which even a little mistake can ruin the whole style, then please by all means cut them off yourself. No need for another costly visit to a stylist or hair-dresser. However, if you notice your hair is full of split ends and it’s too much for you to handle, you can also visit your stylist for a trim.
You Can Deep Condition Your Hair on Your Own
Deep conditioning salon treatments are great and quite relaxing, but it’s something that you can do on your own with home remedies at a much lower cost. Home remedies are admittedly much better for your hair in the long run because of their natural ingredients. Do some research, ask a few questions and gather some knowledge about the appropriate home remedies for deep hair conditioning treatments and be on your way a wonderful, healthy looking and stronger hair. Olive oil and coconut oil are just some of the ingredients great for hair conditioning.
You might feel like you have hairstylists all figured out, but really you haven’t. The salon and hairstyling life is ‘full of mysteries and ...
Antibiotics have had a staggering impact on human health and life expectancy. These anti-bacterial drugs have saved millions of lives and dramatically reduced suffering. But perhaps they have been too successful. Antibiotics have been used (incorrectly) to treat viruses, added to animal feed to increase yields and even put in hand soaps.
Much has been written about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and this is a grave concern. However, people, even physicians, sometimes lose sight of the fact that antibiotics are drugs. Like any drugs, they have side effects and contraindications.
The problem with the way we often use antibiotics is that they represent too much of a good thing. If you have a serious bacterial infection, by all means, take this type of critical, lifesaving medicine. However, like any drug, it’s good to steer clear of overuse in order to optimize the drug’s effectiveness and your long-term health.
Here are the top reasons to avoid antibiotics and how to take them safely…
1. They’re creating resistant bacteria
Certain bacteria are resistant to antibiotics, and the widespread overuse of antibiotics has already led to the development of drug-resistant harmful bacteria. You may already have heard of the difficult-to-treat and dangerous methicillin-resisitant staph aureus (MRSA). When you use antibiotics for every little minor illness, the bacteria in your body build a resistance to them, increasing the likelihood of them not working when you have a serious illness and legitimately need them later on.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now openly admits that antibiotic prescriptions have led to the calamitous emergence of super bugs that are impervious to our scientific ‘medicines.’
2. They eliminate gut bacteria
We’re hearing a lot about the importance of the microbiome these days. Healthy communities of flora in our gut help regulate everything from our weight, mood and mental health to our immunity and hormones.
It’s generally recognized that antibiotics can distort the healthy probiotic bacteria that live in your digestive tract. Antibiotics cause a lot of collateral damage to the good bacteria colonies when they’re eliminating the bad ones – which doesn’t spell good things for your body.
One of the most serious findings in recent research is the detrimental effect antibiotics can cause on mitochondria in the digestive tract. Mitochondria are tiny structures that produce cellular energy and are crucial to proper growth. When antibiotics put digestive mitochondria out of business, they threaten the basic ability of the digestive tract to function. That can lead to diarrhea, ulcerative colitis and other serious disease.
3. They increase your risk of cancer
Overusing antibiotics can have deadly consequences…
And I’m not just talking about antibiotic resistance (we’ve all read the horror stories about MRSA, C-difficile and Candida).
I’m talking about one of the most life-threatening diseases around — cancer.
You see, in the past decade or two, several studies have linked antibiotic use to an increased risk of cancer.
A 2004 study found a connection between antibiotic use and a higher risk of chest cancer.
A 2008 study linked antibiotic use to an increased risk of several types of cancer, including prostate, chest and lung cancer (it also found that antibiotic use was connected to an increased risk of dying from these cancers).
And a 2015 study linked specific types of antibiotics to an increased risk of stomach, lung, prostate and chest cancer
4. They are sometimes worthless
Millions of unnecessary antibiotic are prescribed each year. If you take antibiotics when you don’t actually need them they also can destroy your health and immunity.
You probably know that antibiotics do nothing for illnesses caused by viruses. So then why do some doctors so often prescribe antibiotics for viral bronchitis? And, why do other doctors try to talk you out of getting a prescription for an antibiotic therapy?
There is good reason for both approaches. But it’s important to consider the threat of antibiotic resistance when doling out antibiotics. When doctors prescribe them unnecessarily, and patients demand them when they aren’t warranted — or don’t take them as directed — it contributes to an already serious problem.
5. They can have severe side effects
Some classes of antibiotics like fluoroquinolones have severe side effects. The common drugs in this class include Avelox, Cipro, and Levaquin.
The side effects associated with these drugs can cause permanent damage. They are so severe that they contain an FDA black box warning on their packaging and patient inserts that state that these drugs can cause tendon damage and permanent peripheral neuropathy. That is nerve damage that causes tingling, numbness, pain, weakness and change in sensation.
These drugs may exacerbate muscle weakness in people with myasthenia gravis. They can also cause tendon rupture and joint swelling, skin reactions, loss of memory and even psychosis. Additional side effects can include kidney damage, vision problems, retinal detachment, hearing problems and heart damage.
These side effects are certainly not what the doctor prescribed and are on top of the gastrointestinal effects associated with these and other antibiotics.
6. There are other options
Sometimes during a cold or flu — or any time your immune system is stressed — an opportunistic bacterium gains a foothold. So it’s a good idea to stock up on natural antibacterial ingredients just in case. These natural agents can support overall immune health in addition to fighting bad bacteria — very different from antibiotic drugs which weaken your system by destroying healthy bacteria as well.
Since it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between a viral infection and a bacterial infection, it’s important to consult your health practitioner if symptoms persist.
Herbs and foods with natural antibiotic and immune boosting properties include cinnamon, clove, echinacea, garlic, honey, sage, usnea, yarrow and oregano.
7. If you have to take them…
If you have a serious bacterial infection, antibiotics may be necessary to help your body recover. But if you take those drugs, there’s a natural supplement you should also take to avoid uncomfortable side effects.
Taking antibiotics can cause diarrhea when the drugs kill off the friendly bacteria in your digestive tract. A growing body of research, however, has firmly established that you may be able to restore the good bugs by taking probiotic supplements or eating fermented foods (like sauerkraut) in between your doses of antibiotics. They’re particularly helpful for alleviating diarrhea caused by antibiotics.
Experts advise taking probiotics supplements a few hours after taking antibiotics so that the medicine doesn’t kill the helpful organisms in the supplements.
Source: Easyhealthoptions
Antibiotics have had a staggering impact on human health and life expectancy. These anti-bacterial drugs have saved millions of lives and ...
Oladuni Churchill, estranged husband of Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh has responded to the father’s day stunt by his wife.
In a message he posted shortly after the actress revealed that she went to her son’s school dressed as a man for a father ’ s day event , Churchill posted on Instagram, “Don’t play victim in a circumstance you created.”
Though the businessman and philanthropist did not mention Tonto Dikeh’s name, it was obvious that he referring to her.
See his post below:
Oladuni Churchill, estranged husband of Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh has responded to the father’s day stunt by his wife. In a message he...